Arsène Wenger refuses to man-mark Barcelona's magical Lionel Messi

Barcelona's Lionel Messi will not come in for any special treatment from Arsenal at the Emirates. Photograph: Gustau Nacarino/Reuters

The last time Barcelona met an English team spectators were supposed to be treated to a festival of flowing football. That is how it turned out, in a sense, but the flow was all in one direction and Manchester United unexpectedly found themselves among the spectators. Arsenal hope that Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final will not be as one-sided as last year's final.

If they are to take a lead to the second leg in the Nou Camp, Arsenal, obviously, must find a way to subdue Lionel Messi, the wizardly Argentinian widely regarded as the best player on planet. Messi was top scorer in last year's Champions League and one of the chief tormentors of United in the final, but this season his play has ascended to an even higher level. He has contributed magical performances and 34 goals in all competitions, leading many to claim he is on course to be the greatest player of all time.

Arsène Wenger, however, says it would be wrong for Arsenal to change their approach specifically to try stifling Messi. Barcelona are too good for that.

"I have never tried to man-mark a player out of a game during my time at Arsenal," he says. "It can work, but in exceptional teams you have two or three players you should man-mark and then you have to go to a system where you could create your own problems just by following somebody everywhere.

"I believe we will be playing an exceptional team, so it is up to us to turn up with an exceptional performance. I believe we can do that: if there is one team who can give Barcelona a problem, it is us."

Wenger's confidence has solid roots: Arsenal are the joint top scorers in the Champions League so far this season, have had more shots on target than any other team and in Andrey Arshavin have the player with the most assists.

The reason that Arsenal tend to create so much is, of course, that they tend to monopolise the ball – Barcelona, however, are the one team in the competition who circulate the ball better than Arsenal, averaging an astonishing 48 minutes of possession per game, far more than Arsenal, who are next best with 35 minutes. It is easy to see why the Catalans have the best defensive record in the tournament: opponents rarely get a touch.

Despite all the mouthwatering over the sides' attacking players, then, the most important players on Wednesday could be the main ball-winners, most likely Alex Song for Arsenal and Yaya Touré for Barcelona.

If Wenger believes Arsenal are the one team who could trouble Barcelona, it may also be true that if Arsenal must be beaten, Barcelona are probably the team Wenger would chose to be eliminated by. For Wednesday is not only a clash of the titans, it is also a meeting of minds.

"There's a similarity in the way we play, and also in the way we educate young players and in the way we rely on them, and in the sense of belonging to the club," says Wenger. "It's an important part in the way we see football and I believe that Barcelona has that as well."

The bulk of Barcelona's players graduated from their youth teams but on Wednesday they will come up against one that got away. Cesc Fábregas was a teenage team-mate of Messi and Co before defecting to London in 2003. Messi has won 11 major club honours since then, whereas all Fábregas has collected with Arsenal is a 2005 FA Cup winners' medal.

Though Barcelona reportedly want him back, and he may well go, he is still desperate to show he did not make the wrong decision.

"He will be under pressure but he has to relax and enjoy the game like everyone else," says Wenger.